


Everything Starts Somewhere

by ssyou



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Others Mentioned - Freeform, confession fic, inspired by master key, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 09:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12701745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssyou/pseuds/ssyou
Summary: They were walking towards a big plaza where the staffs mostly circulating around when suddenly Seungwoo stopped in his way and grabbed his arm. Daniel wanted to ask the reason but the genuine and widened smile, not to mention his hyung’s overly excited eyes kinda gave it away. And Daniel’s heart also stopped then, upon the realization.Is it him? Is it him?





	Everything Starts Somewhere

There was a lot of unfairness in this world, Kang Daniel had learned since early years on. A talented trainee couldn’t make his debut, a talented artist couldn’t get his songs heard, a hardworker got beaten by a genius, and so on and so on. Right now, though, in the middle of the night when everyone was having their goodnight sleep, Daniel had to be gorgeous dressed in a suit somewhere over the rainbow.

But that wasn’t the unfairness Daniel talked about.

Together with Seungwoo who was as tired as him, they got off the car with the feeling that their bodies could melt into the asphalt. Right then even the cold hard surface looked as tempting as a 5-star hotel bed. He greeted the staffs nonetheless, smiley, happily, warmly, appreciating that they would still take these two zombies as the casts. The smile on his face matched Seungwoo’s, just less nervous and awkward (Daniel stopped counting how many times he had thanked God for Seungwoo’s existence by his side, the guy who was always there, standing, sitting, crying and laughing in one spot specifically reserved for him. Daniel was an independent man by nature, although it didn’t stop him from needing a friend, a safe haven so to say).

They were walking towards a big plaza where the staffs mostly circulating around when suddenly Seungwoo stopped in his way and grabbed his arm. Daniel wanted to ask the reason but the genuine and widened smile, not to mention his hyung’s overly excited eyes kinda gave it away. And Daniel’s heart also stopped then, upon the realization.

_Is it him? Is it him?_

The world turned a little slower, the heavy breaths that he took along with equally heavy steps got a little faster, the cold that seeped into his bone felt like a flu, which he didn’t know if it was too cold or too warm, because Daniel _knew_.

It was only two seconds most between his wanting to ask why and when he finally looked at what caught Seungwoo’s attention, no matter how he was trapped in slow motion of that giddy feeling, knowing your longing was about to end.

_Holy Father._

There was a boy in a suit, holding up a camera stick while talking to it. He wasn’t looking at their way, but Daniel would know that back of the head like the back of his hand (from too many times spent on looking at pictures, videos, anything).

It was Sewoonnie.

Sewoonnie.

In a frigginblacksuit.

Seungwoo half ran and half fast-walked towards the boy, while Daniel kept his outer self as calm as it could be (there was a tornado raging inside his heart, his eyes couldn’t focus, his body just wanted to burst, burst, burst).  His hyung screamed in genuine happiness, which made the boy notice them and laugh like a song to Daniel’s ears. Dear God, Daniel wanted to die.

And that, right then, was when he was feeling unfairness the most. Because how could it not, where everyone could walk and laugh normally while he could barely breathe, facing a boy he always thought about before he went to sleep. Seungwoo hugged Sewoon with a joy on his face, unaware of the younger’s inner turmoil.

“Wah, _daebak_ ,” Sewoon remarked, the light reflection in his eyes shone unlike the dark sky that surround them. It took everything in Daniel to smile and return his hand.

“Please introduce yourselves,” Sewoon said, still holding the camera.

“Hello, I’m Kang Daniel from Produce 101,” Daniel greeted the camera then, he didn’t know what came after him or where his thoughts ran to, because right then saying Wanna One seemed like drawing a line. Even unconsciously, rankings and everything that came for it was still a sensitive subject. The word Sewoon itself could still make Jaehwan’s smile dimmed a little, everytime someone brought out his name near him.

He knew he was overthinking. God, he knew. It was just his mind was a jumble mess right now.

“This is my first time seeing Sewoon again,” Seungwoo said, eyes looking at their junior still as happily as a minute ago.

“Ah, no it’s not,” Daniel grinned, showing his cute crooked teeth. His hyung knitted his eyebrows, asking when and silently judging him like they met each other secretly. Sewoon looked at him curiously too, mouth resembling that animation character and Daniel wanted to laugh. “We met before through video,”

“Ah,” Sewoon realized and explained to Seungwoo who was still confused, “Video call in Wanna One Go, hyung, you were there too,”

“Ah!”

“I looked about you from SNS as well,” Daniel said without thinking, flashes about what he had been doing popped up on his mind. Not only SNS though, every recorded activities about Sewoon by his fans and friends (Kim Samuel and his willingness to take video of him during Weekly Idol was a Godsend), every story Jaehwan told Daniel about their time in university, every praise the maknae lines said about the boy when they recalled their times in Vocal and Concept Evaluation was engraved in Daniel’s heart, stored in his mind, ready to be replayed when the missing and longing became too much.

That video call was one example. Seeing Sewoon’s face directed at him, even through the camera, was enough to make the pain of missing him slightly lessened. The guards he usually built crumbled to the grounds, the dark sunglasses as a hiding place made it even easier to say those words. You know, the words he murmured every night before he went to sleep that he forgot how not to say it.

They continued the conversation. Daniel’s heart was still pounding he didn’t realize he acted cute in front of Sewoon to maybe get his attention for a second. But he knew he was out of his mind, when he lowered his head and tried to hug the younger out of embarrassment.

 

Sewoon grabbed his wrist and pushed him back though. Seungwoo’s eyes looked at him like he was going insane.

 

Daniel felt his chest tightened a little.

 

-

 

“Good job, everyone,” the PD shouted, an exclamation that every staff and every artist had been waiting all day long. Daniel bowed to everyone around him. When his eyes caught sight of Sewoon, the corner of his mouth went up as he walked towards the boy.

“Hey,” Daniel put his hand on the younger’s back. The dark blue hoodie felt warm on his palm. “You did a good job, Sewoonnie,”

Sewoon moved his head back to see who was talking. Upon seeing Daniel, his eyes lit up like stars in night sky. “You did a good job too, hyung,” Sewoon laughed. “A very good job actually,”

Everything Sewoon did was contagious, so Daniel laughed as well. “Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” He asked with one eyebrow lifted up.

“So cocky,” Sewoon snorted but couldn’t hide the amusement in his eyes.

Daniel counted numbers in his mind, slow and even to make himself appear natural. He prayed to God before saying the words he had been thinking ever since they wore orange shirt with a B letter on the back of it.

“You know,” he gripped Sewoon’s jacket a little, “there is something I wanna talk to you. It’s kinda important? Can we go to the café you went to earlier?” Daniel said while looking at the way his fingers touched the fabric of Sewoon’s jacket. The noise that surrounded them became white in Daniel’s ears. His lips trembled, heart beat fastened and he didn’t get why it was so hard to move his head up and see Sewoon’s reaction.

Sewoon tilted his head, looking at the way Daniel’s fringe half covered his eyes. “Right now?”

Daniel bit his bottom lip. “Yeah, maybe in 15 minutes? After we thanked everyone,”

“Okay,”

He was still not looking at Sewoon so he didn’t know what came after the boy that he would agree to it. But then again, why wouldn’t he.

“Okay,” Daniel breathed out loud, pulled his hand from Sewoon’s back while stepping away, “Okay,” he finally gathered the courage to slightly look up, now that he got some distance between them, only to see Sewoon stared back at him. That sight was so much better than the one from video call, which was separated by camera and sunglasses. Daniel forgot how to breathe (again) and made sure to use the next 15 minutes to calm himself down.

 

-

 

They walked side by side, 20 minutes later. Manager hyung took some time to get convinced but Seungwoo always got his back, bless him. Sewoon wore his winter jacket he used earlier in the shooting. He looked fluffier and much warmer.

“The weather’s nice,” he said contently. “Now I can walk and enjoy the fresh air unlike earlier.”

Daniel automatically smiled upon hearing it. Trust Sewoon to have conversation about weather and truly meant it.

“You’re right,” Daniel breathed in and wriggled his fingers, preparing himself for words he would say to one of the most important person in his life.

Daniel’s eyes were looking straight ahead. He kept count on his head. One, two, three, four, like the way the hand of clock ticking, hoping his heartbeat would go as even. So focused on composing his self, he got shocked and let out a girly scream when a chestnut head popped up on right on his linesight. So much for keeping calm.

“What the- do you want me to die or something?” he halted and pat his chest, trying to slow down his heartbeat for the umpteenth time that day. Sewoon’s face had been way too close, too close that if he didn’t stop right away there was a high chance that their faces would bump each other (and those lips would meet his, maybe, if he was lucky). Daniel had already suspected since a long time ago that Sewoon would be the cause of his death, what was with gentle smile with gentle eyes talking to a guitar everytime they had a break back then, that underneath those luscious lips and gentle eyes lied a devil in disguise. The boy really had ways to make his heart beat out of normal. He was not good for his health.

The boy responsible smirked but then gave up trying to contain his laugh. He took some steps back although stubbornly didn’t move from Daniel’s way.

“Relax, hyung. You were looking too uptight. Relax, breaaathe,” the younger said while making inhale-exhale motion with his hand.

Daniel was tempted to grab that hand and kiss him to shut him up. But it did the exact opposite of calming down so he grudgingly inhaled and exhaled the fresh air like Sewoon told him to. They were still on the sidewalk. There were not many people in this area, they shot in some secluded part of the city that not many people flocked to them anyway. Daniel’s plan was to take Sewoon to the café as an excuse to buy him hot chocolate or strawberry smoothies and then took him to the rooftop of the café. But he contemplated to maybe they could just skip that part and went straight to the secluded alley beside it.

“I am not,” Daniel said, “looking uptight,”

Sewoon had the decency to laugh, eyes staring at him like he watched something so funny.

“What do you want to talk about, anyway? You look like you’re scared of something,” the younger talked to him in his most soothing voice. Daniel recognized it was usually reserved only for Euiwoong and Gwanghyun before. Sewoon put both of his hands on Daniel’s shoulder, squeezing it like he wanted to give him strength and reassurance he thought Daniel needed. Yeah, he needed it alright, to close their distance and put an end to his one sided-love that took over his life.

He grasped Sewoon’s inner arms and knead it softly before he pulled both of Sewoon’s hands down. The boy must sense something strange, because he looked at Daniel astonished. Daniel couldn’t help but give him a sweet smile when he saw those confused eyes.

“I’m not scared, Sewoon-ah. Come on, let’s just go to the café,” he tried to give reassuring tone on the way he talked, but it just made the boy even more perplexed. Daniel got going then, his left hand grabbed Sewoon’s arm so he could walk beside him and near him. Sewoon didn’t have a choice but to follow along.

“Is it okay to talk about it in the café? Won’t somebody hear?”  he asked again.

“Nah,” Daniel answered with eyes looking ahead, “It’s fine. The customers aren’t that many,”

Sewoon just nodded and decided to keep silent on the rest of their walk. They reached the café in no time. The younger greeted the waitress politely and soon they made their orders. Daniel felt Sewoon eyeing the menu like it was some kind of puzzles, intense glare moving between the hot chocolate milk and strawberry smoothies pics. If that wasn’t cute, he didn’t know what was.

He decided to choose the hot chocolate one. Daniel ordered coffee and soon enough the girl behind the counter gave them their orders. She smiled and thanked them happily. He motioned for Sewoon to follow him upstairs then. Sewoon did without suspecting anything. But, instead of sitting on the table on second floor, Daniel took the stairs again until they reached an unlocked door and stood on the rooftop of the building.

Sewoon stopped slurping his drink and looked at Daniel confusedly.

“You wanna talk here? Is it okay for us to be here?” he asked, eyes moving left and right in worry.

Daniel just smiled. “Yeah. I knew one of the guys working here. I went here before with Seungwoo-hyung though,” he answered then put his coffee cup on the bench that the workers used to sit while smoking, judging from the stain around the feet of the chair.

“So,” Daniel started, his courage now at its peak after spending nearly all day getting worried and anxious. His heart still beat fast nonetheless, it was a hopeless case with that one.

Sewoon put his drink on the bench too, then straighten his back and listened to the man in front of him thoroughly. “Yes.”

The older breathed out loud. He looked down, stared at Sewoon’s eyes like the world around them didn’t exist. Like for him, his time and his whole being was focused on Sewoon and Sewoon only. Sewoon knew right then that it was much important matter than what Daniel had told him earlier. Many things went through his mind, swirling, confusing, with many theories that he could come up. Was he sick? Was it something to do with Wanna One?

Daniel moved closer and put his hands on his pockets. Here it came.

“I care about you, a lot,”

Sewoon tilted his head.

“I care about you too, hyung,”

Daniel tried to hide his grimace. Eyes kept on looking at Sewoon, telling him in silent how much he admire the boy and how much he wanted to protect his smiles. How much he wanted to be the one allowed to kiss and hug him, shielding his precious existence from all the hurt in this world.

He bit his lip, “Not in the same way, Sewoon-ah,” he prayed to God once again. “When I say a lot, I mean a lot.”

Sewoon seemed to be thinking of his words in his head. Daniel could tell the exact time Sewoon finally realized what it meant because the boy’s lips parted, eyes widened up and Daniel smiled.

“Do you mean-“

“I like you, Sewoon-ah,” he made sure the younger heard it again. “You don’t have to reply or anything, really. I just need to say it out loud and tell you,”

Sewoon tried to form a word but he still gawked like the thought of Daniel’s feeling towards him never occurred in his mind.

“Hyung, I-“

“It’s okay,” Daniel smiled. He pulled out his hand from his pocket and made its way to touch Sewoon’s face painstakingly slow. When Sewoon didn’t resist or took a step back, Daniel put his palm on the side of Sewoon’s head, thumb stroking the younger’s cheekbone so softly like it was made of fragile glass. “I told you, you didn’t have to answer. I just want you to know.”

Sewoon was out of his frozen state then. Daniel realized his cheek went slightly red, eyes blinking faster than usual when he spoke in whispers.

“Since when?”

Daniel gave a slight laugh, “Since we were in B group, actually,”

“But that was a long time ago,” the younger remarked.

“Yeah,”

Sewoon seemed to be taking his time to say the next words. Daniel, despite knowing there was nearly no chance of Sewoon returning his feeling that day, had already planned ahead that Sewoon would fall for him later as time went by. It was fine, really, when he meant he just wanted Sewoon to know he really did. It was because he could make Sewoon fall in love with him in the future. A feat that seemed as impossible as world domination. But he was fine. He was fine. He could do it.

“Thank you, hyung,” Sewoon made up his mind, “I don’t really know what to say. But I do care about you, hyung. I just-“

“I told you it’s okay, stupid,” Daniel said while stopping his stroke on Sewoon’s cheek then smiled widely. His cute crooked teeth showed up. “Now give me a hug. You resist my hug this morning,” he put his arm around Sewoon, not realizing it was him who initiated the hug first. Sewoon returned the hug though. Daniel could feel his lips moving when he spoke the next words.

“It was because I didn’t want to ruin your makeup, hyung,”

Daniel closed his eyes. “We’re still friends, right? You’ll still reply to my texts, right?” He forgot one thing when they hugged, that maybe Sewoon could feel his fast heartbeat now that they were enclosing each other like that. He didn’t care though. The feel of Sewoon’s jacket on his palm, of Sewoon’s body that fit like he was made for Daniel, the slight tickle of Sewoon’s hair on his cheek were among the things he kept memorizing. Because this moment would end. Who knows when they could meet again. Who knows when Daniel could cherish the boy’s whole being in front of the very person again. A tear escaped his eye when he blinked, body portraying what his mind actually felt. Scared.

“Of course, hyung. Of course, please don’t run away,” Sewoon said like a child afraid that his best friend would move away. He hide himself on Daniel’s shoulder and Daniel could feel the younger’s body move as he breathed.

The knotted on Daniel’s heart slowly loosened its hold. He held Sewoon just a bit tighter. The warmth of Sewoon’s hands and bodies kept him in control.

Daniel smiled.

“Thank you.”

 

-

 

Daniel texts Sewoon everyday.

 

Sewoon replies Daniel’s texts everyday.

 

-

 

Today is the first day of Mind U’s concert and Sewoon’s first time guesting on it.

Daniel video calls Sewoon like he always does.

Like the day before that. Like all days before that. Like all days they’ll be having in the future.

He says his goodbye with ‘Sewoon-ah, saranghae,’ like he did the first time around.

And Sewoon returns it with a smile, like always.

Only differences are he doesn’t have his sunglasses on and there is only Sewoon on the other side of the phone.

 

Another difference, these days Sewoon’s ears would get red and he blushes before he returns Daniel’s goodbye remark with a shy smile.

 

 

It’s a start.

**Author's Note:**

> Master Key gave me lots of feelings. I just...  
> I gotta recheck this work again, there might be some grammatical mistakes here and there....


End file.
